snaxmuppet

We have a few flights coming up but I am getting a bit worried about travel with regard to coronavirus. The first question is should we be travelling at all? None of our travel is essential (all leisure) but they are all on non-refundable tickets and to places that are not particularly affected. Cancelling will cost us quite a bit and as it would be voluntary cancellation it won't be covered by insurance. The issue is that travel put you into close proximity of others. If we do travel should we be wearing masks? All the time? What about in the lounges and on the aircraft?

We have some travel next week (LGW, AMS, EDI, GLA), some towards the end of March (LGW,TIA) and some at the end of April (LHR, ORD).

What are people's thoughts especially with regard to the wearing of masks around the airport, in BA lounges and on aircraft? Are you doing it?

I have to be honest... we are confused as to what to do right now.

Note to Mods:
Sorry if this is not in the right forum. I am particularly interested in those using BA lounges and flying BA as we fly almost exclusively BA. If I posted in a more general forum then the replies would not be so relevant. Thanks

Starship73

Official advice is to avoid wearing a mask unless you are ill yourself, in which case you should wear one to avoid infecting others

george77300

As mentioned the masks are really not a whole lot of use. Except if you have caught something to avoid transferring onwards.

Your travels are to areas with a truly minuscule risk of anything and you certainly shouldn’t worry about it. In fact I’m currently in Vietnam, travelling through Malaysia and Singapore too. Lots of locals wearing masks, but very few foreigners/tourists are.

Enjoy your trip.

Starship73

Arrived on the BA12 from Singapore this morning. No-one was wearing a mask

Worcester

Wash your hands regularly and avoid touching your face, especially the mouth, eyes or nose.

But that is generally good advise to avoid any infection including the common cold or flu.

dylanks

For what it’s worth, the LAX-NRT was about 75% mask wearing on arrival. AA cabin crew wore
masks throughout the flight, though not always in the galley where food prep occurs.

On the streets and subways in Tokyo mask usage is likely greater than 75% currently. Usage in restaurants is around 100% by staff and 0% by patrons (difficult to eat while wearing a mask). Most places post signs about how staff are required to wear masks. Many restaurants and tourist attractions require using hand sanitizer upon entry.

The LAX OW business class lounge has removed all the toys from the kids area as they cannot keep them clean. This was quite the disappointment for my son.

nancypants

If you decide to go for it (which I don’t think you should), please please take the time to work out how to wear the damn things properly

i wrote an idiots guide in another thread:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/32049147-post13.html

SKT-DK

My advise would be to just travel as usual. I’m currently in NRT on the way back from a trip to the US, and while all JAL staff wear masks, not a lot of pax do. I was talking to one of the crew who also said it’s a bit exaggerated and personally she is not afraid - and I agree.

ShuttleRunner

Just treat it as business as usual, especially if it’s not prevalent where you are travelling.

From experience it seems that less people are wearing masks now than they were 2 weeks ago whilst travelling. Not one person was wearing a mask in LGW lounges, and I’d say about 60% in HKG compared to 90% 2 weeks ago.

tuonopepper

Having just done 4 flights for our family Ski holiday I'd say just carry on as normal. There were a few people kicking around the airports (MAN/LHR and SOF) wearing masks, but they were very much the minority and even less on the planes themselves.

My view here is that unless you're due to visit what would be regarded as a high risk area then carry on as normal, your probably still more likely to die in a car crash on route to the airport than from Coronavirus.

The only other thing I'd be thinking twice about right now would be a cruise tbh, life's too short and a lot of this is in the hands of fate really. I'm considering postponing a work trip to Delhi, Coronavirus is 25% in the reasoning for that, there's other factors too. It's not about catching but as the Indian authorities are getting more worried about it I'd rather not risk getting quarantined there if I show up with a common cold.

cupsandsaucers

The masks we see people wearing do not filter viruses. End of. They are entierly pointless. Be it from catching it yourself or spreading it to others. they are literally 0% effective.

Starship73

In fact arguably less than 0% effective, in that the masks then become a hazard in themselves because they have to be disposed of properly. Often they are not.

One of the most laughable things I've seen is people wearing masks in the back of taxis but not putting their seatbelts on, which is literally 1,000 times more dangerous.

snaxmuppet

Thank you so much for your replies.

Yes, I think if it were a cruise then we would be considering cancelling... it is difficult enough on a cruise to avoid norovirus sometimes! We are not cruising this year!

I guested that this was pretty much as you described it but as my wife is diabetic (and so at more risk) I just wanted to check.

nancypants

snaxmuppet

I am certainly not arguing with you... I truly don't know... but if they are so ineffective why then are so many people wearing them in affected areas?